Brad Keselowski has driven by a spluttering Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap to win the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Keselowski also won the Nationwide Series race yesterday, making it a perfect weekend for the 2012 Sprint Cup Series Champion.
The Penske driver led a total of 52 laps, but none of them mattered more than the last half of a lap when Earnhardt Jr’s Chevrolet ran out of fuel. Ironically both drivers have finished in the top-3 in each of the opening three races, Earnhardt Jr. no worse than second.
The race featured long green-flag runs, with only three caution periods throughout the race. It also set-up a fuel strategy situation where Earnhardt Jr. gambled on the final caution to stay out, while Keselowski pitted. The Ford driver coming through to be on the bumper of the Chevrolet when it coughed on the back stretch.
“We found every way we could to make it hard,” said Keselowski.
“This Ford was flying today. These races aren’t getting any easier to win. I drove as hard as I could, every lap.”
Former Ford Performance Racing engineer James Small left Las Vegas with a smile after being part of the team that steered Paul Menard to third place.
The news was somewhat tougher for Marcos Ambrose who had to start at the rear of the 43-car field after issues in qualifying; he brought his Richard Petty Ford home in 24th.
Next week the NASCAR Sprint Cup heads to Tennessee and 160,000 seat half-mile at Bristol for the Food City 500.
VIDEO: Race finish
RESULTS: Kobalt Tools 400 – Las Vegas
|
POS |
Car # |
Driver |
Make |
Start Pos. |
Laps |
Laps Led |
Final Status |
Points |
Bonus Points |
|
1 |
2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 2 | 267 | 53 | Running | 48 | 5 |
|
2 |
88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet | 14 | 267 | 51 | Running | 43 | 1 |
|
3 |
27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 21 | 267 | 6 | Running | 42 | 1 |
|
4 |
22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 1 | 267 | 44 | Running | 41 | 1 |
|
5 |
99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 11 | 267 | 1 | Running | 40 | 1 |
|
6 |
48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 5 | 267 | 34 | Running | 39 | 1 |
|
7 |
31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 10 | 267 | 0 | Running | 37 | 0 |
|
8 |
5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 13 | 267 | 0 | Running | 36 | 0 |
|
9 |
24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 15 | 267 | 0 | Running | 35 | 0 |
|
10 |
20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 29 | 267 | 2 | Running | 35 | 1 |
|
11 |
18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 20 | 267 | 52 | Running | 34 | 1 |
|
12 |
11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 27 | 267 | 1 | Running | 33 | 1 |
|
13 |
55 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | 9 | 267 | 0 | Running | 31 | 0 |
|
14 |
78 | Martin Truex Jr | Chevrolet | 12 | 267 | 0 | Running | 30 | 0 |
|
15 |
1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 7 | 267 | 0 | Running | 29 | 0 |
|
16 |
3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 4 | 267 | 0 | Running | 28 | 0 |
|
17 |
66 | Jeff Burton | Toyota | 19 | 267 | 0 | Running | 27 | 0 |
|
18 |
47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 18 | 267 | 0 | Running | 26 | 0 |
|
19 |
42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 17 | 266 | 0 | Running | 25 | 0 |
|
20 |
21 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 34 | 266 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
|
21 |
10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 22 | 266 | 0 | Running | 23 | 0 |
|
22 |
16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 25 | 266 | 0 | Running | 22 | 0 |
|
23 |
15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 3 | 266 | 0 | Running | 21 | 0 |
|
24 |
9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 43 | 266 | 0 | Running | 20 | 0 |
|
25 |
43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 8 | 264 | 0 | Running | 19 | 0 |
|
26 |
41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 23 | 264 | 0 | Running | 18 | 0 |
|
27 |
17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | 6 | 264 | 0 | Running | 17 | 0 |
|
28 |
13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | 30 | 264 | 0 | Running | 16 | 0 |
|
29 |
7 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | 38 | 264 | 0 | Running | 15 | 0 |
|
30 |
38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 33 | 264 | 0 | Running | 14 | 0 |
|
31 |
51 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 37 | 264 | 0 | Running | 13 | 0 |
|
32 |
34 | David Ragan | Ford | 26 | 263 | 0 | Running | 12 | 0 |
|
33 |
14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 24 | 263 | 0 | Running | 11 | 0 |
|
34 |
36 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 40 | 262 | 0 | Running | 10 | 0 |
|
35 |
83 | Ryan Truex | Toyota | 39 | 261 | 0 | Running | 9 | 0 |
|
36 |
26 | Cole Whitt | Toyota | 28 | 261 | 0 | Running | 8 | 0 |
|
37 |
23 | Alex Bowman | Toyota | 36 | 259 | 0 | Running | 7 | 0 |
|
38 |
33 | Timmy Hill | Chevrolet | 41 | 258 | 0 | Running | 6 | 0 |
|
39 |
32 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | 42 | 253 | 0 | Running | 5 | 0 |
|
40 |
30 | Parker Kligerman | Toyota | 32 | 240 | 0 | Running | 4 | 0 |
|
41 |
4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 16 | 237 | 23 | Running | 4 | 1 |
|
42 |
98 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | 31 | 212 | 0 | Running | 2 | 0 |
|
43 |
95 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 35 | 141 | 0 | Engine | 1 | 0 |
STANDINGS
|
Position |
Driver |
Points |
Behind |
Starts |
WINS |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
DNF |
|
1 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr | 133 | Leader | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
|
2 |
Brad Keselowski | 132 | -1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
|
3 |
Jimmie Johnson | 117 | -16 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
|
4 |
Joey Logano | 116 | -17 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
|
5 |
Jeff Gordon | 115 | -18 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
|
6 |
Carl Edwards | 105 | -28 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
|
7 |
Matt Kenseth | 105 | -28 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
|
8 |
Denny Hamlin | 101 | -32 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
|
9 |
Ryan Newman | 97 | -36 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
|
10 |
Kyle Busch | 95 | -38 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
|
11 |
Jamie McMurray | 93 | -40 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
|
12 |
Greg Biffle | 86 | -47 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
|
13 |
Austin Dillon | 84 | -49 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
|
14 |
Kevin Harvick | 83 | -50 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
|
15 |
Kasey Kahne | 83 | -50 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
|
16 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 80 | -53 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
|
17 |
Casey Mears | 80 | -53 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
|
18 |
Paul Menard | 76 | -57 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
|
19 |
Marcos Ambrose | 69 | -64 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
20 |
Brian Vickers | 64 | -69 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
21 |
AJ Allmendinger | 63 | -70 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
22 |
Clint Bowyer | 55 | -78 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
23 |
Kyle Larson | 55 | -78 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
24 |
Aric Almirola | 54 | -79 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
25 |
Martin Truex Jr | 53 | -80 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
26 |
Reed Sorenson | 51 | -82 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
27 |
Tony Stewart | 48 | -85 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
28 |
Kurt Busch | 47 | -86 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
29 |
Justin Allgaier | 45 | -88 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
30 |
Cole Whitt | 41 | -92 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
31 |
David Ragan | 38 | -95 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
32 |
David Gilliland | 38 | -95 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
33 |
Danica Patrick | 36 | -97 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
34 |
Michael Annett | 32 | -101 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
35 |
Alex Bowman | 31 | -102 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
36 |
Bobby Labonte | 29 | -104 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
37 |
Jeff Burton | 27 | -106 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
38 |
Terry Labonte | 24 | -109 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
39 |
Josh Wise | 22 | -111 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
40 |
Parker Kligerman | 21 | -112 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|
41 |
Ryan Truex | 18 | -115 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
42 |
Michael McDowell | 12 | -121 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
43 |
Travis Kvapil | 11 | -122 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
44 |
Timmy Hill | 6 | -127 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
45 |
Michael Waltrip | 4 | -129 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
46 |
Landon Cassill | 0 | -133 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
47 |
Trevor Bayne | 0 | -133 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
48 |
Brian Scott | 0 | -133 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
49 |
Blake Koch | 0 | -133 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
50 |
Joe Nemechek | 0 | -133 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
51 |
Morgan Shepherd | 0 | -133 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
52 |
Dave Blaney | 0 | -133 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
53 |
Eric McClure | 0 | -133 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
54 |
J.J. Yeley | 0 | -133 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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